The Ultimate Lifeform
CHARACTER INFORMATION
Name: Project: Shadow
Nicknames: Shadow, The Ultimate Lifeform, The Black Blur
(He's also, in the past, been saddled a few nicknames which are nothing more than derogatory racial slurs. Needless to say, none of those are official.)
Race: Artificially-processed transgenic Black Arm hedgehog
(Speculation: If you choose to get technical, Shadow is most likely modeled after an African Pygmy Hedgehog, since that is the most common, well-known species of hedgehog, not to mention is the species of hedgehog shown in the US Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Adventure 2: Battle commercials.)
Gender: Male
Age: N/A; Shadow does not age.
(If you wish to get technical, Shadow's chronological age may very well be about 50 as indicated by the Black Comet's presence by earth "50 years later" as stated by a newspaper in a Last Story cutscene of Shadow the Hedgehog. This seems to hint at the Black Comet's and Black Doom's presence near the ARK at around the same time as a result, somewhat confirming his chronological age as being 50.)
Physical Age: 15
(This makes some sense, since he and Sonic are somewhat physically alike.)
Date of Birth: Unknown
Birthplace: Space Colony ARK
Height: 100 centimeters (3 feet and 3 inches or exactly 3.28 feet)
Weight: 35 kilograms (77.2 pounds)
Ability Type: Speed
Alignment: Neutral (Leans towards Hero when needed)
Physical Techniques:
(1). Spin Attack
Description: While in locomotion, Shadow can curl down and take on a fetal position, rolling along the ground at a very high speed and rate of torque, using his natural speed and the sharpness of his quills to his advantage. This is meant primarily for breaking through barriers or destroying enemies.
In-game debut: Sonic Adventure 2, Sega Dreamcast, 2001
Last known use: Sonic Runners, Mobile, 2015
(2). Spin Jump
Description: Also referred to as the "spinball jump," Shadow is able to leap into the air and curl into a spinning, tightly compacted ball of sharpness and destruction which can destroy enemies and break barriers.
In-game debut: Sonic Adventure 2, Sega Dreamcast, 2001
Last known use: Sonic Forces: Speed Battle, Mobile, 2017
(3). Spin Dash
Description: Originally named the "Super Spin Dash," Shadow is able to curl down and begin revving up, taking on a diagonally pivoted, ovular shape. Once unleashed, Shadow blasts forward in an acceleration roll of high speeds with limited airborne capability, meant to break barriers or mow down enemies.
In-game debut: Sonic Adventure 2, Sega Dreamcast, 2001
Last known use: Sonic Rivals 2, Sony PlayStation Portable, 2007
(4). Jump Dash/Homing Attack
Description: While airborne in spinball form, Shadow can burst forward in a sudden jolt of speed in a linear path enveloped in a yellow aura, and when an enemy or object is near, the jump can be used to home right into the nearby enemy or object with extreme impact power.
In-game debut: Sonic Adventure 2, Sega Dreamcast, 2001
Last known use: Sonic Forces, Sony PlayStation 4, Microsoft Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, 2017
(5). Light Dash
Description: When a trail or pattern of rings is in close proximity, Shadow is able to zoom across the trajectory of the ring path at light speed, defying gravity and collecting all of them in a flash.
In-game debut: Sonic Adventure 2, Sega Dreamcast, 2001
Last known use: Sonic the Hedgehog (Sonic Next), Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3, 2006
(6). Light Attack
Description: After gaining enough power, Shadow dashes into a powerful and fast attack on all enemies in the vicinity. Its accuracy is questionable, however, and Shadow has to be careful not to end up somewhere he shouldn't when coming out of the attack.
In-game debut: Sonic Adventure 2, Sega Dreamcast, 2001
(7). Chaos Spear
Description: Shadow raises his hand and can throw down a large array of highly destructive yellow streams of chaos energy at his opponent. This attack either damages the opponent or stuns them, depending how it is used. In his Super form, Shadow is able to charge up and shoot a single, yet more powerful Spear.
In-game debut: Sonic Adventure 2, Sega Dreamcast, 2001
Last known use: Sonic Generations, Microsoft Xbox 360/Sony PlayStation 3/PC, Nintendo 3DS, 2011
(8). Chaos Control
Description: With the use of a single Chaos Emerald and, at times, a mind set on justice, Shadow is able to warp time and space and teleport to a desired destination, as well as manipulate time by freezing it, speeding it up, or slowing it down. He can also damage his enemies by ramming them whilst teleporting. If Shadow uses Chaos Control at the same time as another, he can use the resulting tear in space-time continuum to travel through time. Whilst in super form, Chaos Control is more potent, to the point that he can teleport massively sized objects.
In-game debut: Sonic Adventure 2, Sega Dreamcast, 2001
Last known use: Sonic Forces, Sony PlayStation 4, Microsoft Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, 2017
(9). Black Tornado
Description: When in mid-air, Shadow can assume spinball form and repeatedly follow the trajectory of a perfect circle, stirring up a substantially powerful vortex of black colored winds, sending anything caught in it flying up into the air and ultimately helpless.
In-game debut: Sonic Heroes, Nintendo GameCube, Sony PlayStation 2/Microsoft Xbox, 2004
(10). Triangle Jump
Description: Shadow basically Jump Dashes between walls. He can also run on them for a very limited amount of time after instigating a jump as well, but he can only remain rooted on a wall for a short period of time when still.
In-game debut: Sonic Heroes, Nintendo GameCube, Sony PlayStation 2/Microsoft Xbox, 2004
Last known use: Shadow the Hedgehog, Nintendo GameCube/Sony PlayStation 2/Microsoft Xbox, 2005
(11). Chaos Blast
Description: When the darkness of his psyche is in control, Shadow is able to unleash a highly destructive ball of energy around him with the use of a single Chaos Emerald. This blast spreads and eliminates nearly everything in a 5–10-yard radius.
Appearance: Shadow the Hedgehog, Nintendo GameCube/Sony PlayStation 2/Microsoft Xbox, 2005
Last known use: Sonic and the Black Knight, Nintendo Wii, 2009 (as Sir Lancelot of the Lake)
(12). Chaos Attack
Description: As if the Homing Attack wasn't good enough on its own, Shadow uses Chaos energy to enhance the amount of damage dealt, even taking out multiple enemies at once. However, it can only be used five times, regardless of the number of targets.
Only used in: Sonic the Hedgehog (aka Sonic Next), Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3, 2006
(13). Spin Kick
Description: Shadow basically performs a spinning kick whether moving or still that resembles break-dancing somewhat. If he is still when performing this attack, it can create a small tornado that can suck enemies in and damage them.
Only used in: Sonic the Hedgehog (aka Sonic Next), Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3, 2006
(14). Chaos Lance
Description: Shadow creates a single red lance of chaos energy that strikes his enemy, stunning them as well as damaging them.
Only used in: Sonic the Hedgehog (aka Sonic Next), Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3, 2006
(15). Chaos Rift
Description: Shadow tears the space-time continuum a new one and tosses the resulting hole at his foe, trapping them in limbo. Should the attack fail, the experience can still make the victim dazed and distracted.
Only used in: Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, Nintendo DS, 2008
(16). Chaos Punishment
Description: Using an unknown power, Sir Lancelot of Camelot had the ability to stop time and quickly warp from one enemy to another, vanquishing each one, provided he had enough energy in his Soul Gauge to do so. When all his foes had been put down, Lancelot simply dashed forth in a blaze of speed.
Only used in: Sonic and the Black Knight, Nintendo Wii, 2009
(17). Super Boost
Description: Quite possibly Shadow's greatest acceleration move: at will, Shadow is able to burst forward in a blaze of reddish-yellow energy and instantly achieve supersonic speeds upon lifting his feet off the ground without virtually any acceleration delay. Annoyingly, it is unknown if this fatigues him, however, since it would seem that he uses his skates to do this, rather than his own natural speed.
Appearance: Sonic Generations, Sony PlayStation 3/Microsoft Xbox 360/PC/Nintendo 3DS, 2011
Last known use: Sonic Forces, Sony PlayStation 4/Microsoft Xbox One/Nintendo Switch/PC, 2017
Abilities and Aptitude:
(1). Thanks to his air shoes, Shadow is able to hoverskate at supersonic speeds, nearly matching Sonic's right down to the last mile per hour. Alternatively, Shadow doesn't necessarily need the shoes' jets to be as fast as his rival but prefers them anyway. Unlike Sonic, however, Shadow has yet to break the sound barrier.
(2). Needless to say, his natural speed gives him awesome agility, acrobatic skills, and reaction time.
(3). Though he can't compare with Knuckles, Shadow has enormous physical strength, capable of lifting objects many times his weight and size such as buses and large slabs of rock/concrete and flipping/tossing them with relative ease.
(4). Shadow has an incredible resilience to damage as it takes a LOT of major punishment for him to go down for the count. Even then, he recovers rather fast indeed. Given his ultimate life-form status, he may also be completely immune to disease, and he does not physically age.
(5). By removing the golden rings on each of his wrists, Shadow can release tremendous amounts of energy that were (presumably) "held back" by the rings in a speedy dash that appears to be able to obliterate almost anything in his path.
Transformations/Alternate forms:
(1). Has the ability to use the power of the Chaos Emeralds and transform into Super Shadow, where Shadow's fur turns to a glossy, light beige color, he is impervious to damage, and is many times as fast and powerful along with the ability to fly. Super Shadow is reliant on rings to sustain this form and, in some cases, even activate it. Maintaining this form even with rings consumes extreme amounts of energy and Shadow can only sustain it for relatively short periods of time. When this form was first activated, Shadow found it difficult to stay in the form, due to his inexperience.
Hobbies and Talents:
(1). Seems to be the most talented when tapping into the powers of the Chaos Emeralds, since he is most adept with Chaos Control and possesses an extensive array of Chaos Energy-related supernatural powers and abilities.
(2). Experienced athlete, particularly in fields such as boarding and grinding.
(3). Like it or not, Shadow knows how to use a VERY wide variety of weapons and vehicles.
(4). Also talented with many types of Extreme Gear.
Weaknesses: Despite being somewhat easily influenced when set on a goal, he has no known weaknesses.
Physical Appearance:
- Coarse and close-lying black fur with a light grayish colored extremely thin undercoat. Appears very suede like in texture.
-Long and thin, black-furred legs that broaden below the knees. Capable of allowing Shadow to perform some extremely impressive jumps and leaps and very powerful kicks.
- Red highlights on several parts of his body including his quills, arms, legs, and on the upper corners of his eyes. This coloration is implied to be an inherited trait from the Black Arms.
- Tan skin muzzle and inner ears
- Thin and wiry, black-furred arms that have MUCH more strength than they appear to have at first glance
- Large, very serious looking eyes with ruby red irises, black pupils and glassy white sclera.
- Black eyelids with a thickish black lash that extends among the bottom of the top eyelid.
- 6 elongated quills coming out from the back of his head (the outer four are bent upwards) that appear to be consisted of many thousands of smaller spines, and two much less pliable arching quills on his back.
- Triangular, constantly alert and perked ears with a slightly forward slant. They have some degree of movement and are known to slant sideways when Shadow is particularly upset...well, more upset than usual, anyway.
- Long, shiny black nose with no apparent nostrils
- Small, slightly arched tail
- Triangular patch of tufted white fur on his chest.
(Speculation: As Shadow is a hedgehog like Sonic and Amy, he may have feet that do not have visibly separate toes. However, due to his transgenic nature and due to the fact that his uncovered feet have never been seen, this is unconfirmed.)
Attire:
- A pair of white gloves backed by black, red-tongued cuffs and golden Inhibitor Rings which, as the name suggests, seem to limit his power somewhat. The rings click into place on the cuffs when placed back on after being taken off.
- A pair of white, black, red and yellow air shoes installed with five jets that enable Shadow to hoverskate
- Collars and Inhibitor Rings similar to his glove cuffs and rings are situated above his shoes.
Extreme Gear:
- A pair of sunglasses with one large teal lens and a gray frame. Curiously, they're never seen over his eyes.
- A pair of shoes that is a bit similar in appearance to his usual kicks but with laces.
- Once wore an Ark of the Cosmos on one of his wrists which enabled Shadow to manipulate gravity as he pleased. From utilizing gravity to make sharp turns, repelling enemies and slowing his rate of descent to even utilizing gravity in order to perform long and fast burst of acceleration whilst levitating.
Sir Lancelot of the Lake:
- A suit of black armor (sans leggings) with a red streak on the helmet.
- A pair of metal gauntlets backed by black, red-tongued cuffs and gold rings
- A pair of white, black, red and yellow metal shoes installed with five jets that enable Lancelot to hoverskate. The energy used is, most likely, magic.
- Collars and rings similar to his gauntlet cuffs and rings are situated above his shoes
Items & Weapons:
(1). Air Shoes
Description: They look like Shadow's regular kicks but adorned with a special attachment. At first, these shoes were required to perform the Light Dash. Nowadays, Shadow has learned to perform the maneuver regardless.
Appearance: Sonic Adventure 2, Sega Dreamcast, 2001
(2). Ancient Light
Description: A very mysterious ball of light with smaller orbs of light orbiting it that was absorbed into Shadow's body when he gained it. This lets Shadow perform the Light Attack.
Appearance: Sonic Adventure 2, Sega Dreamcast, 2001
(3). Flame Ring
Description: A gold bracelet with a vermillion-colored gem embedded into It that rhythmically glows orange. This let Shadow perform the Fire Somersault, shrouding his somersaulting form in a fiery aura and allowing him to bust open steel containers. This item is now in Rouge's possession, given to her by Sonic.
Appearance: Sonic Adventure 2, Sega Dreamcast, 2001
(4). A red and black pistol.
(5). Samurai Blade
Description: A standard katana with a black hilt. Shadow uses this for close range combat, but it is capable of generating slashes of purple energy of some sort that travel in a straight line.
Appearance: Shadow the Hedgehog, Nintendo GameCube/Sony PlayStation 2/Microsoft Xbox, 2005
(6). Satellite Laser
Description: A small remote. Shadow uses this to lock-on to a target, which is soon shot down by a mysterious laser from above.
Appearance: Shadow the Hedgehog, Nintendo GameCube/Sony PlayStation 2/Microsoft Xbox, 2005
(7). Vacuum Egg
Description: A polka dot egg shaped gun with a chicken for a mouth. This unusual weapon can suck up about 20 (30 when upgraded) objects before bursting. Once it bursts, it bestows items to Shadow.
Appearance: Shadow the Hedgehog, Nintendo GameCube/Sony PlayStation 2/Microsoft Xbox, 2005
(8). Omochao Gun
Description: An Omochao shaped gun. This gun's surprisingly powerful ammunition (Omochao heads) bounces off its target (and others) repeatedly.
Appearance: Shadow the Hedgehog, Nintendo GameCube/Sony PlayStation 2/Microsoft Xbox, 2005
(9). Heal Cannon
Description: One of Gerald Robotnik's prototypes mass produced by GUN. This "weapon" can heal anything in its crosshairs by shooting heal units at the target.
Appearance: Shadow the Hedgehog, Nintendo GameCube/Sony PlayStation 2/Microsoft Xbox, 2005
(10). Shadow Rifle
Description: This rifle bears Shadow's likeness somewhat, hence the name. The most powerful of his special weapons, this baby can take out almost any type of enemy in one shot with ammunition that closely resembles a Chaos Spear.
Appearance: Shadow the Hedgehog, Nintendo GameCube/Sony PlayStation 2/Microsoft Xbox, 2005
(11). Blue Memory Shard.
Description: An item of unknown appearance, the blue memory shard allows Shadow to use his Chaos Snap ability.
Only used in: Sonic the Hedgehog (aka Sonic Next), Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3, 2006
(12). Red Memory Shard
Description: An item of unknown appearance, the red memory shard allows Shadow to use his Chaos Lance attack.
Only used in: Sonic the Hedgehog (aka Sonic Next), Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3, 2006
(13). Black Memory Shard
Description: An item of unknown appearance, the black memory shard allows Shadow's usage of Chaos Blast.
Only used in: Sonic the Hedgehog (aka Sonic Next), Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3, 2006
(14). Arondight
Description: One of the sacred swords of Camelot, Sir Lancelot wielded this weapon with brutal distinction, displaying his strength for all to witness. He only had access to the Knight style of swordsmanship.
Only used in: Sonic and the Black Knight, Nintendo Wii, 2009
Vehicle(s):
(1). Dark Rider
Description: A custom-made motorcycle with a red and black color scheme. This was given to him by GUN for unknown reasons. Shadow has since upgraded it to suit his preferences.
In-game debut: Shadow the Hedgehog, Nintendo GameCube/Sony PlayStation 2/Microsoft Xbox, 2006
(2). Darkness
Description: A pair of Extreme Gear skates that have a black, red and white color scheme. They are economic on air as they burn less than any other Extreme Gear and have a good speed statistic but weak cornering ability.
Appearance: Sonic Riders, Nintendo GameCube/Sony PlayStation 2/Microsoft Xbox, 2006
(3). Black Shot
Description: A custom Extreme Gear board pared down for maximum velocity to suit only Shadow's touch. The Black Shot has good speed but poor cornering ability. It can transform into a grinding gear.
Appearance: Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, Nintendo Wii/Sony PlayStation 2, 2008
Personality Details:
Shadow is a hedgehog with ambition, to put it simply. With a wit and conduct as crude, sharp, and fast as his physical ability, he is definitely not an individual whose buttons are to be pressed. He is as serious as a heart attack and is usually very quiet and reserved, but, when necessary, he is quick to throw in his 2 cents, no matter how coldly honest it is. He is not often the type to make a quick yarn or is very jocular. In many ways, he is the polar opposite of Sonic (except for the ego; they can both be rather full of themselves). If anything, only physically is he similar to the Blue Blur.
Shadow is as smart as a whip and quick to trot, remaining ever somber and vigilant in the face of danger. Such a personality may give him off as a villain or one with bad intentions, when that is not really the case (though he will be one, if that's what it takes). He is just a hedgehog who concentrates on his motives and when Shadow is determined, he is quite literally unstoppable. He is also a loyal ally, determined to protect those he cares about from danger. He has been discovered alive since his supposed death and was stricken with amnesia for a while. Shadow maintained his serious, motivated demeanor, though he couldn't remember his past or what was of it. When he did find out, in the end, it didn't matter. He's still the same, and no cursed past will change that.
Whoever decides to become his enemy, be it an outside force or the very people he's promised to protect, Shadow the Hedgehog will fight like he always has.
Historical Biography:
50 years ago, the president (13 presidents ago from the current one) began to form a large interest in what was known as mankind's eternal dream: researching immortality. This drove the president into confidentially requesting Professor Gerald Robotnik (Dr. Ivo Robotnik's grandfather) to scrutinize such a farfetched illusion of grandeur.
Gerald Robotnik stubbornly refused this request, since it had crossed Man's limits. Besides, he had a hunch that such research would, eventually, be used as a weapon of some sort, something he did not condone under any circumstances. He was a man of ethical standards (unlike his grandson). However, ironically, Gerald's beloved granddaughter Maria had been diagnosed with a lethal sickness known as NIDS (Neuro Immunodeficiency Syndrome). Medical treatment for this illness at the time was unavailable. This eventually resulted in Gerald Robotnik's approval of the president's request, thus research for immortality begun aboard the ARK, a spherical space research facility. Research on Maria's illness was being conducted thoroughly, but Gerald's newly unveiled research on immortality brought in a new ray of hope. Could something so absurd have been fabricated within the mind of Gerald Robotnik? Soon, the project underwent research and was codenamed Project: Shadow, named because of the sarcasm involved in not actually being able to create a shadow (which didn't exist in the world).
At the beginning stages, Chaos Emeralds were researched and soon resulted in the creation of Chaos Drives. These Chaos Drives were the objects in which the infinite powers of the Chaos Emeralds were utilized upon a living being. They were meant primarily for the prototype, which had to be nearly perfect before toil on the main project would commence. The prototype of the Ultimate Life-form bore fruit. It was modeled after a lizard's shape and seemed to meet many of their standards: it could self-regenerate, self-restore, and self-reproduce. This thrilled the researchers. However, in their moment of glory, things began to look bad. The prototype was unruly and hard to control. This caused many problems for the researchers and those aboard the Space Colony ARK as a whole. More than likely, because of the threat this posed, the confidential research had been leaked into the Guardian Units of the Nation military organization back on Earth. The Professor had given them his side project, the "Gizoid", in order to buy some time, but when the prototype's scary habits became known, everything changed, and the Gizoid's highly dangerous and destructive behavior (trashing a great deal of the ARK itself) did next to nothing to help matters.
GUN's top ranking officials had developed a strong disliking for the researchers aboard the ARK (and Gerald in particular) and thus planned to take advantage of the ARK's situation and form a plan to shut the ARK down. This secret plan was named "ARK's Indestructible Seal." The plan included the evacuation of all citizens of the ARK back to Earth, while all research facilities involved with Project: Shadow were frozen and shut down, and all of those involved with the project were to be killed. This entire plan was released to the public under the premise that a bio-hazardous accident had occurred that GUN knew nothing about, and those who were killed (namely the researchers) were victims of the accident. This was to cover GUN's true motives of shutting the ARK down, erasing Project: Shadow, and put the blame on Professor Gerald Robotnik as the person responsible for the accident. The plan was completed in 7 days and the prototype of the Ultimate Life-form was found and sealed within the deepest part of the colony.
However, there was a miscalculation in their plan. Unbeknownst to GUN (except to their future commander who spied on the awakening process as a child), Gerald was putting the finishing touches on the final Ultimate Life-form project, codenamed "Shadow," using a much more desirable interface and physique for the creature. For this one, Gerald, still unwilling to turn "Shadow" into a weapon, imparted the creature with a heart and personality similar to his ailing granddaughter, in the hopes that he would not fight. During all this, however, the professor had made the desperate (and unfortunate) mistake of looking to the alien race known as the Black Arms for help. The experimentation period just happened to be the time when the creatures' HQ of sorts, the Black Comet, was supposed to pass the Earth. During that time, their leader, Black Doom, and Gerald collaborated on "Shadow", using some of Black Doom's blood for the project. In exchange, Gerald was supposed to give Black Doom the Chaos Emeralds they were using when finished with them. At the time, it seemed like a perfectly fine plan. Sadly, this wasn't the case.
The Professor eventually discovered the Black Arms' real plan to destroy the planet and enslave the humans on it. Of course, Maria and the others were safe on the ARK, but in the end, Gerald just couldn't sacrifice the Earth. To stop the Black Arms, Gerald recorded a video telling Shadow to use the Eclipse Cannon on the Black Comet 50 years later, ending the threat the Black Arms posed for good. However, GUN wanted to end the "threat" Shadow and the research related to him posed and enacted "Operation: ARK's Indestructible Seal." As they stormed into the space colony, evacuating the civilians they could and killing the researchers, Gerald escaped and entrusted Shadow to his granddaughter Maria (whom Shadow had gotten to know and love as a sister), expecting her to release the project and herself in an escape pod towards the planet. Together, they raced to the research lab, avoiding most of the soldiers, taking down GUN's Heavy Dog mech and saving as many researchers as they could. Although they managed to make it to the escape pods, Maria was shot and murdered by a GUN officer before she could escape. Before dying, she was able to release the pod Shadow was in.
Gerald Robotnik was jailed at Prison Island back on Earth and when he saw Maria's name upon the list of casualties from the "accident," he was grief-stricken. At some point during his mourning period, he'd managed to regain possession of the Gizoid. He took this opportunity to attempt to reprogram its AI to give it a "heart" similar to Shadow, so that the robot would not be used as a weapon. This was his final sane act before the pain of loss slowly warped his mind.
In the end, the thought of his dead granddaughter proved to be too much for the gifted professor to bear. Without her, Gerald had nothing more to live for. As his train of thought became darker, uncontrollable and more twisted, he was scared. It also happened that GUN managed to retrieve the Project: Shadow that was released via Escape Pod. With that, came an opportunity Professor Robotnik could no longer resist. Gerald somehow managed to alter the Ultimate Life-form once again with a new motive. Gerald was now insane, his mind was set totally on revenge, and he programmed Shadow with those same intentions, completely forgetting about the Black Arms. It can be assumed that this unauthorized act was the last straw for GUN, as Gerald was eventually executed by firing squad soon after.
50 years later, after performing extensive research on his grandfather's legacy, Dr. Ivo Robotnik then decides to use this Ultimate Life-form for his own biddings, hoping it would do better than Chaos did. It was only a matter of time before the lunatic Eggman managed to penetrate into the GUN Prison Island and release what he had sought out for: Shadow the Hedgehog. However, Eggman (originally shocked at the diminutive size of the WMD and his resemblance to his greatest rival/enemy) seemed to have freed a whooole lot more than what he had bargained for.
Shadow was re-programmed to bring chaos to mankind and avenge Gerald's, his colleagues', and most of all, Maria's death. He stuck by this vow for vengeance quite vigilantly by joining Dr. Robotnik and a rather suspicious treasure hunter by the name of Rouge the Bat to take over the world, threatening to destroy Earth with the Eclipse Cannon on the ARK if they wouldn't surrender. What a better way to have revenge than that? But here is the mystery: the creation process of the supposed Shadow the Hedgehog only took a week, according to the excerpt written by Rouge the Bat (who was actually a spy for the military and joined Shadow and Eggman as a double agent so she can gather information on Project: Shadow). If Shadow's creation process only took a week, how could those memories he has of the time he spent with Maria even exist? He knew and became best friends with this girl inside of a week? To Rouge, these "memories" could quite possibly be what Gerald programmed into Shadow to justify his motives for wanting to avenge her death when he went insane. Whether or not that is true is unknown for sure.
The Eclipse Cannon was soon after powered by the required 7 Chaos Emeralds, but its activation triggered an unknown function programmed secretly by Gerald Robotnik. The Space Colony ARK automatically went on a crash course towards Earth. All of our heroes, including Sonic & Eggman, joined forces to save the Earth; all but Shadow. Shadow believed all was going according to planned. But then, thanks to a desperate plea by one Amy Rose, another memory came up in his head, a memory that seemed more sensible since it is related to fact. He remembered Maria dying before his eyes, he was trapped in a capsule, and before she released him, she told him to do whatever he can to make mankind happy and flourish. That was his original purpose: to bring hope to humanity. This memory caused him to eventually help Sonic & company as well.
After a confrontation with the prototype of the Ultimate Lifeform deep within the heart of the ARK, our heroes were so close to their goal to stop the 7 Chaos Emeralds by using the Master Emerald, and thus aborting the collision. But by surprise, the prototype made a return and merged itself with the space colony, determined to keep it on the collision course. Sonic & Shadow used the power of the Chaos Emeralds to enter Super form and stop the prototype and use Chaos Control to transport the ARK back into its original orbit around Earth. However, Shadow used up all his strength in the process, saving mankind at the cost of his own life (intentional or otherwise).
'Maria… this is what you wanted, right? This is my promise I made to you…'
These were were his last thoughts before he fell towards Earth and as far as he knew, his death.
Luckily for the Black Blur, Eggman managed to use one of his robots to save Shadow. Since then, he was secretly cloned and kept in suspended animation inside of a capsule in one of Dr. Robotnik's old bases. He was discovered by Rouge the Bat, who was looking for a rumored treasure trove. Realizing that it was Shadow, she quickly released him. But soon after he was awoken (with amnesia, no less) and teamed up with Rouge and a rebellious robot of Eggman's named E-123 "Omega," they (Rouge and Omega) found a room full of Shadow clones, and Rouge mentioned to Omega that Shadow is probably a robot. Is he?
Shadow himself had no clue. All he had to go on was his name… and the gruesome memory of the murder of someone named "Maria." Three months after that incident, as he was pondering this, the Black Arms made their presence known and attacked the Earth. In the midst of their invasion, Black Doom remembered Shadow and the "contract" he and Gerald made. So, he promptly assigned Shadow with a number of missions, with the promise of answers. Between Doom, GUN, Eggman and even Sonic and the gang, Shadow didn't know who to trust. He was only sure of one thing: the only way to find the truth, whatever it may be, was to get the Chaos Emeralds. As he embarked on this journey it seemed as if he was being pulled in three different directions and had gone through hundreds of possibilities…
In the end, though, Shadow managed to regain his memories and procure all seven Emeralds. It was at that moment that Black Doom revealed the truth of Shadow's creation and the Black Arms true intentions for the Emeralds: to warp down to Earth with Chaos Control and take over. All seven emeralds were required to enable this feat, for only the seven emeralds combined powers could amplify the powers of Black Doom's Chaos Control to the strength that it could warp the vastly sized comet to the earth's surface. The paralyzing gas that swept over the planet was also inside the comet, which successfully kept Sonic and the others out of commission. Shadow, however, wasn't affected, being part Black Arm and all. Moreover, he was way past tired of being told what to do and decided to finally discard his past and focus on the here and now...starting with Black Doom's death.
With guidance and pleas from his true allies, he chased the sick dictator down to the heart of the comet. Black Doom tried to use his blood link to Shadow to control his mind, but with the unknowing help of Team Chaotix (you GOTTA love their timing), Professor Gerald's secondary secret video was played, revealing all about the mishap on the ARK and his plans against the Black Arms (including the true purpose of the Eclipse Cannon) and Shadow was able to break free. Angered by all this, Black Doom attained his ultimate form, Devil Doom, and proceeded to speed up the comet's process.
Unfortunately for the monster, he didn't bother to keep the Chaos Emeralds, allowing Super Shadow to show up. It was during the heated battle that followed that Eggman (being the last one conscious; everyone else was knocked out due to the comet's overflow of gas) revealed that he saved our (anti)hero with a robot and that Shadow had merely lost his memory due to the immense trauma of near re-entry into the atmosphere that day. Shadow took this into account and finished Devil Doom. He then sent the comet back into space and destroyed it with the Eclipse Cannon, saving the world once again…and finally putting his past behind him. At last he was free to live his life the way he wanted.
That is exactly what he has done since then. While he still clashes with Sonic and the others every now and again, when all is said and done, they know that they can depend on the Ultimate Lifeform to defend the planet against evil...and he on them, whether he admits it or not.
Personal Information:
Family: Maria Robotnik, Prof. Gerald Robotnik, and Black Doom (by blood only).
Greatest Friend(s): Rouge the Bat and E-123 "Omega".
Other Friend(s): Knuckles the Echidna, Vector the Crocodile, Espio the Chameleon, Amy Rose, Miles "Tails" Prower, Silver the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog (but just barely).
Love Interest(s): None.
Rival(s): Sonic the Hedgehog, Knuckles the Echidna, and Silver the Hedgehog (the latter two in a loose sense).
Foe(s): Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik (when necessary), "Infinite" the Jackal, ANYONE who gets in the way of his objectives.
Likes: Shadow enjoys silence, one-upping Sonic and just inspecting things without uttering a vowel. He also likes hanging around Space Colony ARK and has the utmost respect and loyalty for Professor Gerald Robotnik, as well as brotherly love for Maria.
Dislikes: People with a show-offy attitude (Sonic) or who get in his way tend to piss him off. Being constantly compared to or mistaken for Sonic is most likely an additional annoyance. He has a general dislike of mankind as well, but this doesn't seem to prevent him jumping to their full, unshakable defense when/if he sees fit. Lastly, the only thing he fears more than anything else...is his own power.
Favorite Food(s): Unknown.
Favorite Color(s): Unknown. Probably black or red. Definitely not blue.
Favorite Music Genre(s): Heavy Metal, Rock, Techno Pop
Occupation: Freelance secret agent for the Guardian Units of the Nation (GUN).
Place of Residence: Wherever he deems necessary to reside. He is a wanderer much like his blue rival.
GAME INFORMATION
Franchise Name: Shadow the Hedgehog
Original Purpose: Antagonist role in Sonic Adventure 2; rival of Sonic the Hedgehog.
Current Purpose: Rival of Sonic the Hedgehog and second-in-command of Team Dark.
Date of First Promotion/Presence in the Industry: Shadow was first shown in Sonic Adventure 2, first released in the US on June 19th, 2001.
Years in Service: 21, and still going...
Impact on Series: When he was first introduced, he was THE badass of the Sonic series, the renegade. Nowadays, that hasn't changed, but it seems that critics no longer want that, since most blame the series' "downfall" on him and him alone, so much so that, out of all the supporting cast they hate (all of them), Shadow is the one they want gone the most.
Original Designer: Takashi Iizuka, Kazuyuki Hoshino and Shiro Maekawa.
Design Process: Shadow's design process didn't begin with a Hedgehog but a Tenrec. Terios the Tenrec went through several designs, one element being a damaged and scarred eye. One design featured black sclera with red irises and a different quill configuration. Another featured an indigo colour scheme with white stripes around the end of the quills. These ideas were ultimately discarded and the character received a species overhaul and name change, eventually resulting in the black Hedgehog we all know and love as he is today.
Possible Design Inspirations: Umm, his design style was inspired by almost all angsty, shady characters seen in games or anime? Plus, he looks like Sonic, so there you go.
Prestigious Design Variations: 3
Name: Project: Shadow
Nicknames: Shadow, The Ultimate Lifeform, The Black Blur
(He's also, in the past, been saddled a few nicknames which are nothing more than derogatory racial slurs. Needless to say, none of those are official.)
Race: Artificially-processed transgenic Black Arm hedgehog
(Speculation: If you choose to get technical, Shadow is most likely modeled after an African Pygmy Hedgehog, since that is the most common, well-known species of hedgehog, not to mention is the species of hedgehog shown in the US Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Adventure 2: Battle commercials.)
Gender: Male
Age: N/A; Shadow does not age.
(If you wish to get technical, Shadow's chronological age may very well be about 50 as indicated by the Black Comet's presence by earth "50 years later" as stated by a newspaper in a Last Story cutscene of Shadow the Hedgehog. This seems to hint at the Black Comet's and Black Doom's presence near the ARK at around the same time as a result, somewhat confirming his chronological age as being 50.)
Physical Age: 15
(This makes some sense, since he and Sonic are somewhat physically alike.)
Date of Birth: Unknown
Birthplace: Space Colony ARK
Height: 100 centimeters (3 feet and 3 inches or exactly 3.28 feet)
Weight: 35 kilograms (77.2 pounds)
Ability Type: Speed
Alignment: Neutral (Leans towards Hero when needed)
Physical Techniques:
(1). Spin Attack
Description: While in locomotion, Shadow can curl down and take on a fetal position, rolling along the ground at a very high speed and rate of torque, using his natural speed and the sharpness of his quills to his advantage. This is meant primarily for breaking through barriers or destroying enemies.
In-game debut: Sonic Adventure 2, Sega Dreamcast, 2001
Last known use: Sonic Runners, Mobile, 2015
(2). Spin Jump
Description: Also referred to as the "spinball jump," Shadow is able to leap into the air and curl into a spinning, tightly compacted ball of sharpness and destruction which can destroy enemies and break barriers.
In-game debut: Sonic Adventure 2, Sega Dreamcast, 2001
Last known use: Sonic Forces: Speed Battle, Mobile, 2017
(3). Spin Dash
Description: Originally named the "Super Spin Dash," Shadow is able to curl down and begin revving up, taking on a diagonally pivoted, ovular shape. Once unleashed, Shadow blasts forward in an acceleration roll of high speeds with limited airborne capability, meant to break barriers or mow down enemies.
In-game debut: Sonic Adventure 2, Sega Dreamcast, 2001
Last known use: Sonic Rivals 2, Sony PlayStation Portable, 2007
(4). Jump Dash/Homing Attack
Description: While airborne in spinball form, Shadow can burst forward in a sudden jolt of speed in a linear path enveloped in a yellow aura, and when an enemy or object is near, the jump can be used to home right into the nearby enemy or object with extreme impact power.
In-game debut: Sonic Adventure 2, Sega Dreamcast, 2001
Last known use: Sonic Forces, Sony PlayStation 4, Microsoft Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, 2017
(5). Light Dash
Description: When a trail or pattern of rings is in close proximity, Shadow is able to zoom across the trajectory of the ring path at light speed, defying gravity and collecting all of them in a flash.
In-game debut: Sonic Adventure 2, Sega Dreamcast, 2001
Last known use: Sonic the Hedgehog (Sonic Next), Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3, 2006
(6). Light Attack
Description: After gaining enough power, Shadow dashes into a powerful and fast attack on all enemies in the vicinity. Its accuracy is questionable, however, and Shadow has to be careful not to end up somewhere he shouldn't when coming out of the attack.
In-game debut: Sonic Adventure 2, Sega Dreamcast, 2001
(7). Chaos Spear
Description: Shadow raises his hand and can throw down a large array of highly destructive yellow streams of chaos energy at his opponent. This attack either damages the opponent or stuns them, depending how it is used. In his Super form, Shadow is able to charge up and shoot a single, yet more powerful Spear.
In-game debut: Sonic Adventure 2, Sega Dreamcast, 2001
Last known use: Sonic Generations, Microsoft Xbox 360/Sony PlayStation 3/PC, Nintendo 3DS, 2011
(8). Chaos Control
Description: With the use of a single Chaos Emerald and, at times, a mind set on justice, Shadow is able to warp time and space and teleport to a desired destination, as well as manipulate time by freezing it, speeding it up, or slowing it down. He can also damage his enemies by ramming them whilst teleporting. If Shadow uses Chaos Control at the same time as another, he can use the resulting tear in space-time continuum to travel through time. Whilst in super form, Chaos Control is more potent, to the point that he can teleport massively sized objects.
In-game debut: Sonic Adventure 2, Sega Dreamcast, 2001
Last known use: Sonic Forces, Sony PlayStation 4, Microsoft Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, 2017
(9). Black Tornado
Description: When in mid-air, Shadow can assume spinball form and repeatedly follow the trajectory of a perfect circle, stirring up a substantially powerful vortex of black colored winds, sending anything caught in it flying up into the air and ultimately helpless.
In-game debut: Sonic Heroes, Nintendo GameCube, Sony PlayStation 2/Microsoft Xbox, 2004
(10). Triangle Jump
Description: Shadow basically Jump Dashes between walls. He can also run on them for a very limited amount of time after instigating a jump as well, but he can only remain rooted on a wall for a short period of time when still.
In-game debut: Sonic Heroes, Nintendo GameCube, Sony PlayStation 2/Microsoft Xbox, 2004
Last known use: Shadow the Hedgehog, Nintendo GameCube/Sony PlayStation 2/Microsoft Xbox, 2005
(11). Chaos Blast
Description: When the darkness of his psyche is in control, Shadow is able to unleash a highly destructive ball of energy around him with the use of a single Chaos Emerald. This blast spreads and eliminates nearly everything in a 5–10-yard radius.
Appearance: Shadow the Hedgehog, Nintendo GameCube/Sony PlayStation 2/Microsoft Xbox, 2005
Last known use: Sonic and the Black Knight, Nintendo Wii, 2009 (as Sir Lancelot of the Lake)
(12). Chaos Attack
Description: As if the Homing Attack wasn't good enough on its own, Shadow uses Chaos energy to enhance the amount of damage dealt, even taking out multiple enemies at once. However, it can only be used five times, regardless of the number of targets.
Only used in: Sonic the Hedgehog (aka Sonic Next), Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3, 2006
(13). Spin Kick
Description: Shadow basically performs a spinning kick whether moving or still that resembles break-dancing somewhat. If he is still when performing this attack, it can create a small tornado that can suck enemies in and damage them.
Only used in: Sonic the Hedgehog (aka Sonic Next), Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3, 2006
(14). Chaos Lance
Description: Shadow creates a single red lance of chaos energy that strikes his enemy, stunning them as well as damaging them.
Only used in: Sonic the Hedgehog (aka Sonic Next), Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3, 2006
(15). Chaos Rift
Description: Shadow tears the space-time continuum a new one and tosses the resulting hole at his foe, trapping them in limbo. Should the attack fail, the experience can still make the victim dazed and distracted.
Only used in: Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, Nintendo DS, 2008
(16). Chaos Punishment
Description: Using an unknown power, Sir Lancelot of Camelot had the ability to stop time and quickly warp from one enemy to another, vanquishing each one, provided he had enough energy in his Soul Gauge to do so. When all his foes had been put down, Lancelot simply dashed forth in a blaze of speed.
Only used in: Sonic and the Black Knight, Nintendo Wii, 2009
(17). Super Boost
Description: Quite possibly Shadow's greatest acceleration move: at will, Shadow is able to burst forward in a blaze of reddish-yellow energy and instantly achieve supersonic speeds upon lifting his feet off the ground without virtually any acceleration delay. Annoyingly, it is unknown if this fatigues him, however, since it would seem that he uses his skates to do this, rather than his own natural speed.
Appearance: Sonic Generations, Sony PlayStation 3/Microsoft Xbox 360/PC/Nintendo 3DS, 2011
Last known use: Sonic Forces, Sony PlayStation 4/Microsoft Xbox One/Nintendo Switch/PC, 2017
Abilities and Aptitude:
(1). Thanks to his air shoes, Shadow is able to hoverskate at supersonic speeds, nearly matching Sonic's right down to the last mile per hour. Alternatively, Shadow doesn't necessarily need the shoes' jets to be as fast as his rival but prefers them anyway. Unlike Sonic, however, Shadow has yet to break the sound barrier.
(2). Needless to say, his natural speed gives him awesome agility, acrobatic skills, and reaction time.
(3). Though he can't compare with Knuckles, Shadow has enormous physical strength, capable of lifting objects many times his weight and size such as buses and large slabs of rock/concrete and flipping/tossing them with relative ease.
(4). Shadow has an incredible resilience to damage as it takes a LOT of major punishment for him to go down for the count. Even then, he recovers rather fast indeed. Given his ultimate life-form status, he may also be completely immune to disease, and he does not physically age.
(5). By removing the golden rings on each of his wrists, Shadow can release tremendous amounts of energy that were (presumably) "held back" by the rings in a speedy dash that appears to be able to obliterate almost anything in his path.
Transformations/Alternate forms:
(1). Has the ability to use the power of the Chaos Emeralds and transform into Super Shadow, where Shadow's fur turns to a glossy, light beige color, he is impervious to damage, and is many times as fast and powerful along with the ability to fly. Super Shadow is reliant on rings to sustain this form and, in some cases, even activate it. Maintaining this form even with rings consumes extreme amounts of energy and Shadow can only sustain it for relatively short periods of time. When this form was first activated, Shadow found it difficult to stay in the form, due to his inexperience.
Hobbies and Talents:
(1). Seems to be the most talented when tapping into the powers of the Chaos Emeralds, since he is most adept with Chaos Control and possesses an extensive array of Chaos Energy-related supernatural powers and abilities.
(2). Experienced athlete, particularly in fields such as boarding and grinding.
(3). Like it or not, Shadow knows how to use a VERY wide variety of weapons and vehicles.
(4). Also talented with many types of Extreme Gear.
Weaknesses: Despite being somewhat easily influenced when set on a goal, he has no known weaknesses.
Physical Appearance:
- Coarse and close-lying black fur with a light grayish colored extremely thin undercoat. Appears very suede like in texture.
-Long and thin, black-furred legs that broaden below the knees. Capable of allowing Shadow to perform some extremely impressive jumps and leaps and very powerful kicks.
- Red highlights on several parts of his body including his quills, arms, legs, and on the upper corners of his eyes. This coloration is implied to be an inherited trait from the Black Arms.
- Tan skin muzzle and inner ears
- Thin and wiry, black-furred arms that have MUCH more strength than they appear to have at first glance
- Large, very serious looking eyes with ruby red irises, black pupils and glassy white sclera.
- Black eyelids with a thickish black lash that extends among the bottom of the top eyelid.
- 6 elongated quills coming out from the back of his head (the outer four are bent upwards) that appear to be consisted of many thousands of smaller spines, and two much less pliable arching quills on his back.
- Triangular, constantly alert and perked ears with a slightly forward slant. They have some degree of movement and are known to slant sideways when Shadow is particularly upset...well, more upset than usual, anyway.
- Long, shiny black nose with no apparent nostrils
- Small, slightly arched tail
- Triangular patch of tufted white fur on his chest.
(Speculation: As Shadow is a hedgehog like Sonic and Amy, he may have feet that do not have visibly separate toes. However, due to his transgenic nature and due to the fact that his uncovered feet have never been seen, this is unconfirmed.)
Attire:
- A pair of white gloves backed by black, red-tongued cuffs and golden Inhibitor Rings which, as the name suggests, seem to limit his power somewhat. The rings click into place on the cuffs when placed back on after being taken off.
- A pair of white, black, red and yellow air shoes installed with five jets that enable Shadow to hoverskate
- Collars and Inhibitor Rings similar to his glove cuffs and rings are situated above his shoes.
Extreme Gear:
- A pair of sunglasses with one large teal lens and a gray frame. Curiously, they're never seen over his eyes.
- A pair of shoes that is a bit similar in appearance to his usual kicks but with laces.
- Once wore an Ark of the Cosmos on one of his wrists which enabled Shadow to manipulate gravity as he pleased. From utilizing gravity to make sharp turns, repelling enemies and slowing his rate of descent to even utilizing gravity in order to perform long and fast burst of acceleration whilst levitating.
Sir Lancelot of the Lake:
- A suit of black armor (sans leggings) with a red streak on the helmet.
- A pair of metal gauntlets backed by black, red-tongued cuffs and gold rings
- A pair of white, black, red and yellow metal shoes installed with five jets that enable Lancelot to hoverskate. The energy used is, most likely, magic.
- Collars and rings similar to his gauntlet cuffs and rings are situated above his shoes
Items & Weapons:
(1). Air Shoes
Description: They look like Shadow's regular kicks but adorned with a special attachment. At first, these shoes were required to perform the Light Dash. Nowadays, Shadow has learned to perform the maneuver regardless.
Appearance: Sonic Adventure 2, Sega Dreamcast, 2001
(2). Ancient Light
Description: A very mysterious ball of light with smaller orbs of light orbiting it that was absorbed into Shadow's body when he gained it. This lets Shadow perform the Light Attack.
Appearance: Sonic Adventure 2, Sega Dreamcast, 2001
(3). Flame Ring
Description: A gold bracelet with a vermillion-colored gem embedded into It that rhythmically glows orange. This let Shadow perform the Fire Somersault, shrouding his somersaulting form in a fiery aura and allowing him to bust open steel containers. This item is now in Rouge's possession, given to her by Sonic.
Appearance: Sonic Adventure 2, Sega Dreamcast, 2001
(4). A red and black pistol.
(5). Samurai Blade
Description: A standard katana with a black hilt. Shadow uses this for close range combat, but it is capable of generating slashes of purple energy of some sort that travel in a straight line.
Appearance: Shadow the Hedgehog, Nintendo GameCube/Sony PlayStation 2/Microsoft Xbox, 2005
(6). Satellite Laser
Description: A small remote. Shadow uses this to lock-on to a target, which is soon shot down by a mysterious laser from above.
Appearance: Shadow the Hedgehog, Nintendo GameCube/Sony PlayStation 2/Microsoft Xbox, 2005
(7). Vacuum Egg
Description: A polka dot egg shaped gun with a chicken for a mouth. This unusual weapon can suck up about 20 (30 when upgraded) objects before bursting. Once it bursts, it bestows items to Shadow.
Appearance: Shadow the Hedgehog, Nintendo GameCube/Sony PlayStation 2/Microsoft Xbox, 2005
(8). Omochao Gun
Description: An Omochao shaped gun. This gun's surprisingly powerful ammunition (Omochao heads) bounces off its target (and others) repeatedly.
Appearance: Shadow the Hedgehog, Nintendo GameCube/Sony PlayStation 2/Microsoft Xbox, 2005
(9). Heal Cannon
Description: One of Gerald Robotnik's prototypes mass produced by GUN. This "weapon" can heal anything in its crosshairs by shooting heal units at the target.
Appearance: Shadow the Hedgehog, Nintendo GameCube/Sony PlayStation 2/Microsoft Xbox, 2005
(10). Shadow Rifle
Description: This rifle bears Shadow's likeness somewhat, hence the name. The most powerful of his special weapons, this baby can take out almost any type of enemy in one shot with ammunition that closely resembles a Chaos Spear.
Appearance: Shadow the Hedgehog, Nintendo GameCube/Sony PlayStation 2/Microsoft Xbox, 2005
(11). Blue Memory Shard.
Description: An item of unknown appearance, the blue memory shard allows Shadow to use his Chaos Snap ability.
Only used in: Sonic the Hedgehog (aka Sonic Next), Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3, 2006
(12). Red Memory Shard
Description: An item of unknown appearance, the red memory shard allows Shadow to use his Chaos Lance attack.
Only used in: Sonic the Hedgehog (aka Sonic Next), Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3, 2006
(13). Black Memory Shard
Description: An item of unknown appearance, the black memory shard allows Shadow's usage of Chaos Blast.
Only used in: Sonic the Hedgehog (aka Sonic Next), Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3, 2006
(14). Arondight
Description: One of the sacred swords of Camelot, Sir Lancelot wielded this weapon with brutal distinction, displaying his strength for all to witness. He only had access to the Knight style of swordsmanship.
Only used in: Sonic and the Black Knight, Nintendo Wii, 2009
Vehicle(s):
(1). Dark Rider
Description: A custom-made motorcycle with a red and black color scheme. This was given to him by GUN for unknown reasons. Shadow has since upgraded it to suit his preferences.
In-game debut: Shadow the Hedgehog, Nintendo GameCube/Sony PlayStation 2/Microsoft Xbox, 2006
(2). Darkness
Description: A pair of Extreme Gear skates that have a black, red and white color scheme. They are economic on air as they burn less than any other Extreme Gear and have a good speed statistic but weak cornering ability.
Appearance: Sonic Riders, Nintendo GameCube/Sony PlayStation 2/Microsoft Xbox, 2006
(3). Black Shot
Description: A custom Extreme Gear board pared down for maximum velocity to suit only Shadow's touch. The Black Shot has good speed but poor cornering ability. It can transform into a grinding gear.
Appearance: Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, Nintendo Wii/Sony PlayStation 2, 2008
Personality Details:
Shadow is a hedgehog with ambition, to put it simply. With a wit and conduct as crude, sharp, and fast as his physical ability, he is definitely not an individual whose buttons are to be pressed. He is as serious as a heart attack and is usually very quiet and reserved, but, when necessary, he is quick to throw in his 2 cents, no matter how coldly honest it is. He is not often the type to make a quick yarn or is very jocular. In many ways, he is the polar opposite of Sonic (except for the ego; they can both be rather full of themselves). If anything, only physically is he similar to the Blue Blur.
Shadow is as smart as a whip and quick to trot, remaining ever somber and vigilant in the face of danger. Such a personality may give him off as a villain or one with bad intentions, when that is not really the case (though he will be one, if that's what it takes). He is just a hedgehog who concentrates on his motives and when Shadow is determined, he is quite literally unstoppable. He is also a loyal ally, determined to protect those he cares about from danger. He has been discovered alive since his supposed death and was stricken with amnesia for a while. Shadow maintained his serious, motivated demeanor, though he couldn't remember his past or what was of it. When he did find out, in the end, it didn't matter. He's still the same, and no cursed past will change that.
Whoever decides to become his enemy, be it an outside force or the very people he's promised to protect, Shadow the Hedgehog will fight like he always has.
Historical Biography:
50 years ago, the president (13 presidents ago from the current one) began to form a large interest in what was known as mankind's eternal dream: researching immortality. This drove the president into confidentially requesting Professor Gerald Robotnik (Dr. Ivo Robotnik's grandfather) to scrutinize such a farfetched illusion of grandeur.
Gerald Robotnik stubbornly refused this request, since it had crossed Man's limits. Besides, he had a hunch that such research would, eventually, be used as a weapon of some sort, something he did not condone under any circumstances. He was a man of ethical standards (unlike his grandson). However, ironically, Gerald's beloved granddaughter Maria had been diagnosed with a lethal sickness known as NIDS (Neuro Immunodeficiency Syndrome). Medical treatment for this illness at the time was unavailable. This eventually resulted in Gerald Robotnik's approval of the president's request, thus research for immortality begun aboard the ARK, a spherical space research facility. Research on Maria's illness was being conducted thoroughly, but Gerald's newly unveiled research on immortality brought in a new ray of hope. Could something so absurd have been fabricated within the mind of Gerald Robotnik? Soon, the project underwent research and was codenamed Project: Shadow, named because of the sarcasm involved in not actually being able to create a shadow (which didn't exist in the world).
At the beginning stages, Chaos Emeralds were researched and soon resulted in the creation of Chaos Drives. These Chaos Drives were the objects in which the infinite powers of the Chaos Emeralds were utilized upon a living being. They were meant primarily for the prototype, which had to be nearly perfect before toil on the main project would commence. The prototype of the Ultimate Life-form bore fruit. It was modeled after a lizard's shape and seemed to meet many of their standards: it could self-regenerate, self-restore, and self-reproduce. This thrilled the researchers. However, in their moment of glory, things began to look bad. The prototype was unruly and hard to control. This caused many problems for the researchers and those aboard the Space Colony ARK as a whole. More than likely, because of the threat this posed, the confidential research had been leaked into the Guardian Units of the Nation military organization back on Earth. The Professor had given them his side project, the "Gizoid", in order to buy some time, but when the prototype's scary habits became known, everything changed, and the Gizoid's highly dangerous and destructive behavior (trashing a great deal of the ARK itself) did next to nothing to help matters.
GUN's top ranking officials had developed a strong disliking for the researchers aboard the ARK (and Gerald in particular) and thus planned to take advantage of the ARK's situation and form a plan to shut the ARK down. This secret plan was named "ARK's Indestructible Seal." The plan included the evacuation of all citizens of the ARK back to Earth, while all research facilities involved with Project: Shadow were frozen and shut down, and all of those involved with the project were to be killed. This entire plan was released to the public under the premise that a bio-hazardous accident had occurred that GUN knew nothing about, and those who were killed (namely the researchers) were victims of the accident. This was to cover GUN's true motives of shutting the ARK down, erasing Project: Shadow, and put the blame on Professor Gerald Robotnik as the person responsible for the accident. The plan was completed in 7 days and the prototype of the Ultimate Life-form was found and sealed within the deepest part of the colony.
However, there was a miscalculation in their plan. Unbeknownst to GUN (except to their future commander who spied on the awakening process as a child), Gerald was putting the finishing touches on the final Ultimate Life-form project, codenamed "Shadow," using a much more desirable interface and physique for the creature. For this one, Gerald, still unwilling to turn "Shadow" into a weapon, imparted the creature with a heart and personality similar to his ailing granddaughter, in the hopes that he would not fight. During all this, however, the professor had made the desperate (and unfortunate) mistake of looking to the alien race known as the Black Arms for help. The experimentation period just happened to be the time when the creatures' HQ of sorts, the Black Comet, was supposed to pass the Earth. During that time, their leader, Black Doom, and Gerald collaborated on "Shadow", using some of Black Doom's blood for the project. In exchange, Gerald was supposed to give Black Doom the Chaos Emeralds they were using when finished with them. At the time, it seemed like a perfectly fine plan. Sadly, this wasn't the case.
The Professor eventually discovered the Black Arms' real plan to destroy the planet and enslave the humans on it. Of course, Maria and the others were safe on the ARK, but in the end, Gerald just couldn't sacrifice the Earth. To stop the Black Arms, Gerald recorded a video telling Shadow to use the Eclipse Cannon on the Black Comet 50 years later, ending the threat the Black Arms posed for good. However, GUN wanted to end the "threat" Shadow and the research related to him posed and enacted "Operation: ARK's Indestructible Seal." As they stormed into the space colony, evacuating the civilians they could and killing the researchers, Gerald escaped and entrusted Shadow to his granddaughter Maria (whom Shadow had gotten to know and love as a sister), expecting her to release the project and herself in an escape pod towards the planet. Together, they raced to the research lab, avoiding most of the soldiers, taking down GUN's Heavy Dog mech and saving as many researchers as they could. Although they managed to make it to the escape pods, Maria was shot and murdered by a GUN officer before she could escape. Before dying, she was able to release the pod Shadow was in.
Gerald Robotnik was jailed at Prison Island back on Earth and when he saw Maria's name upon the list of casualties from the "accident," he was grief-stricken. At some point during his mourning period, he'd managed to regain possession of the Gizoid. He took this opportunity to attempt to reprogram its AI to give it a "heart" similar to Shadow, so that the robot would not be used as a weapon. This was his final sane act before the pain of loss slowly warped his mind.
In the end, the thought of his dead granddaughter proved to be too much for the gifted professor to bear. Without her, Gerald had nothing more to live for. As his train of thought became darker, uncontrollable and more twisted, he was scared. It also happened that GUN managed to retrieve the Project: Shadow that was released via Escape Pod. With that, came an opportunity Professor Robotnik could no longer resist. Gerald somehow managed to alter the Ultimate Life-form once again with a new motive. Gerald was now insane, his mind was set totally on revenge, and he programmed Shadow with those same intentions, completely forgetting about the Black Arms. It can be assumed that this unauthorized act was the last straw for GUN, as Gerald was eventually executed by firing squad soon after.
50 years later, after performing extensive research on his grandfather's legacy, Dr. Ivo Robotnik then decides to use this Ultimate Life-form for his own biddings, hoping it would do better than Chaos did. It was only a matter of time before the lunatic Eggman managed to penetrate into the GUN Prison Island and release what he had sought out for: Shadow the Hedgehog. However, Eggman (originally shocked at the diminutive size of the WMD and his resemblance to his greatest rival/enemy) seemed to have freed a whooole lot more than what he had bargained for.
Shadow was re-programmed to bring chaos to mankind and avenge Gerald's, his colleagues', and most of all, Maria's death. He stuck by this vow for vengeance quite vigilantly by joining Dr. Robotnik and a rather suspicious treasure hunter by the name of Rouge the Bat to take over the world, threatening to destroy Earth with the Eclipse Cannon on the ARK if they wouldn't surrender. What a better way to have revenge than that? But here is the mystery: the creation process of the supposed Shadow the Hedgehog only took a week, according to the excerpt written by Rouge the Bat (who was actually a spy for the military and joined Shadow and Eggman as a double agent so she can gather information on Project: Shadow). If Shadow's creation process only took a week, how could those memories he has of the time he spent with Maria even exist? He knew and became best friends with this girl inside of a week? To Rouge, these "memories" could quite possibly be what Gerald programmed into Shadow to justify his motives for wanting to avenge her death when he went insane. Whether or not that is true is unknown for sure.
The Eclipse Cannon was soon after powered by the required 7 Chaos Emeralds, but its activation triggered an unknown function programmed secretly by Gerald Robotnik. The Space Colony ARK automatically went on a crash course towards Earth. All of our heroes, including Sonic & Eggman, joined forces to save the Earth; all but Shadow. Shadow believed all was going according to planned. But then, thanks to a desperate plea by one Amy Rose, another memory came up in his head, a memory that seemed more sensible since it is related to fact. He remembered Maria dying before his eyes, he was trapped in a capsule, and before she released him, she told him to do whatever he can to make mankind happy and flourish. That was his original purpose: to bring hope to humanity. This memory caused him to eventually help Sonic & company as well.
After a confrontation with the prototype of the Ultimate Lifeform deep within the heart of the ARK, our heroes were so close to their goal to stop the 7 Chaos Emeralds by using the Master Emerald, and thus aborting the collision. But by surprise, the prototype made a return and merged itself with the space colony, determined to keep it on the collision course. Sonic & Shadow used the power of the Chaos Emeralds to enter Super form and stop the prototype and use Chaos Control to transport the ARK back into its original orbit around Earth. However, Shadow used up all his strength in the process, saving mankind at the cost of his own life (intentional or otherwise).
'Maria… this is what you wanted, right? This is my promise I made to you…'
These were were his last thoughts before he fell towards Earth and as far as he knew, his death.
Luckily for the Black Blur, Eggman managed to use one of his robots to save Shadow. Since then, he was secretly cloned and kept in suspended animation inside of a capsule in one of Dr. Robotnik's old bases. He was discovered by Rouge the Bat, who was looking for a rumored treasure trove. Realizing that it was Shadow, she quickly released him. But soon after he was awoken (with amnesia, no less) and teamed up with Rouge and a rebellious robot of Eggman's named E-123 "Omega," they (Rouge and Omega) found a room full of Shadow clones, and Rouge mentioned to Omega that Shadow is probably a robot. Is he?
Shadow himself had no clue. All he had to go on was his name… and the gruesome memory of the murder of someone named "Maria." Three months after that incident, as he was pondering this, the Black Arms made their presence known and attacked the Earth. In the midst of their invasion, Black Doom remembered Shadow and the "contract" he and Gerald made. So, he promptly assigned Shadow with a number of missions, with the promise of answers. Between Doom, GUN, Eggman and even Sonic and the gang, Shadow didn't know who to trust. He was only sure of one thing: the only way to find the truth, whatever it may be, was to get the Chaos Emeralds. As he embarked on this journey it seemed as if he was being pulled in three different directions and had gone through hundreds of possibilities…
In the end, though, Shadow managed to regain his memories and procure all seven Emeralds. It was at that moment that Black Doom revealed the truth of Shadow's creation and the Black Arms true intentions for the Emeralds: to warp down to Earth with Chaos Control and take over. All seven emeralds were required to enable this feat, for only the seven emeralds combined powers could amplify the powers of Black Doom's Chaos Control to the strength that it could warp the vastly sized comet to the earth's surface. The paralyzing gas that swept over the planet was also inside the comet, which successfully kept Sonic and the others out of commission. Shadow, however, wasn't affected, being part Black Arm and all. Moreover, he was way past tired of being told what to do and decided to finally discard his past and focus on the here and now...starting with Black Doom's death.
With guidance and pleas from his true allies, he chased the sick dictator down to the heart of the comet. Black Doom tried to use his blood link to Shadow to control his mind, but with the unknowing help of Team Chaotix (you GOTTA love their timing), Professor Gerald's secondary secret video was played, revealing all about the mishap on the ARK and his plans against the Black Arms (including the true purpose of the Eclipse Cannon) and Shadow was able to break free. Angered by all this, Black Doom attained his ultimate form, Devil Doom, and proceeded to speed up the comet's process.
Unfortunately for the monster, he didn't bother to keep the Chaos Emeralds, allowing Super Shadow to show up. It was during the heated battle that followed that Eggman (being the last one conscious; everyone else was knocked out due to the comet's overflow of gas) revealed that he saved our (anti)hero with a robot and that Shadow had merely lost his memory due to the immense trauma of near re-entry into the atmosphere that day. Shadow took this into account and finished Devil Doom. He then sent the comet back into space and destroyed it with the Eclipse Cannon, saving the world once again…and finally putting his past behind him. At last he was free to live his life the way he wanted.
That is exactly what he has done since then. While he still clashes with Sonic and the others every now and again, when all is said and done, they know that they can depend on the Ultimate Lifeform to defend the planet against evil...and he on them, whether he admits it or not.
Personal Information:
Family: Maria Robotnik, Prof. Gerald Robotnik, and Black Doom (by blood only).
Greatest Friend(s): Rouge the Bat and E-123 "Omega".
Other Friend(s): Knuckles the Echidna, Vector the Crocodile, Espio the Chameleon, Amy Rose, Miles "Tails" Prower, Silver the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog (but just barely).
Love Interest(s): None.
Rival(s): Sonic the Hedgehog, Knuckles the Echidna, and Silver the Hedgehog (the latter two in a loose sense).
Foe(s): Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik (when necessary), "Infinite" the Jackal, ANYONE who gets in the way of his objectives.
Likes: Shadow enjoys silence, one-upping Sonic and just inspecting things without uttering a vowel. He also likes hanging around Space Colony ARK and has the utmost respect and loyalty for Professor Gerald Robotnik, as well as brotherly love for Maria.
Dislikes: People with a show-offy attitude (Sonic) or who get in his way tend to piss him off. Being constantly compared to or mistaken for Sonic is most likely an additional annoyance. He has a general dislike of mankind as well, but this doesn't seem to prevent him jumping to their full, unshakable defense when/if he sees fit. Lastly, the only thing he fears more than anything else...is his own power.
Favorite Food(s): Unknown.
Favorite Color(s): Unknown. Probably black or red. Definitely not blue.
Favorite Music Genre(s): Heavy Metal, Rock, Techno Pop
Occupation: Freelance secret agent for the Guardian Units of the Nation (GUN).
Place of Residence: Wherever he deems necessary to reside. He is a wanderer much like his blue rival.
GAME INFORMATION
Franchise Name: Shadow the Hedgehog
Original Purpose: Antagonist role in Sonic Adventure 2; rival of Sonic the Hedgehog.
Current Purpose: Rival of Sonic the Hedgehog and second-in-command of Team Dark.
Date of First Promotion/Presence in the Industry: Shadow was first shown in Sonic Adventure 2, first released in the US on June 19th, 2001.
Years in Service: 21, and still going...
Impact on Series: When he was first introduced, he was THE badass of the Sonic series, the renegade. Nowadays, that hasn't changed, but it seems that critics no longer want that, since most blame the series' "downfall" on him and him alone, so much so that, out of all the supporting cast they hate (all of them), Shadow is the one they want gone the most.
Original Designer: Takashi Iizuka, Kazuyuki Hoshino and Shiro Maekawa.
Design Process: Shadow's design process didn't begin with a Hedgehog but a Tenrec. Terios the Tenrec went through several designs, one element being a damaged and scarred eye. One design featured black sclera with red irises and a different quill configuration. Another featured an indigo colour scheme with white stripes around the end of the quills. These ideas were ultimately discarded and the character received a species overhaul and name change, eventually resulting in the black Hedgehog we all know and love as he is today.
Possible Design Inspirations: Umm, his design style was inspired by almost all angsty, shady characters seen in games or anime? Plus, he looks like Sonic, so there you go.
Prestigious Design Variations: 3
Known Game Voice Actors:
Sonic Adventure 2 (US): David Humphrey
Sonic Adventure 2 (JP): Kouji Yusa
Sonic Battle (JP): Kouji Yusa
Sonic Battle (US): David Humphrey
Sonic Heroes (JP): Kouji Yusa
Sonic Heroes (US): David Humphrey
Shadow the Hedgehog (JP): Kouji Yusa
Shadow the Hedgehog (US): Jason Anthony Griffith
Sonic Riders (US): Jason Anthony Griffith
Sonic Riders (JP): Kouji Yusa
Sonic the Hedgehog aka Sonic Next (JP): Kouji Yusa
Sonic the Hedgehog aka Sonic Next (US): Jason Anthony Griffith
Sonic Rivals (US): Jason Anthony Griffith
Sonic and the Secret Rings (JP): Kouji Yusa
Sonic and the Secret Rings (US): Jason Anthony Griffith
Sonic Rivals 2 (US): Jason Anthony Griffith
Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity (US): Jason Anthony Griffith
Sonic Riders: Shooting Star Story (JP): Kouji Yusa
Sonic and the Black Knight (US): Jason Anthony Griffith
Sonic and the Black Knight (JP): Kouji Yusa
Sonic Free Riders (US): Kirk Thornton
Sonic Free Riders (JP): Kouji Yusa
Sonic Colors (US): Kirk Thornton
Sonic Colors (JP): Kouji Yusa
Sonic Generations (US): Kirk Thornton
Sonic Generations: White Time and Space (JP): Kouji Yusa
Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric (US) - Kirk Thornton
Sonic Toon: Ancient Treasure (JP) - Kouji Yusa
Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal (US) - Kirk Thornton
Sonic Toon: Island Adventure (JP) - Kouji Yusa
Sonic Forces (US): Kirk Thornton
Sonic Forces (JP): Kouji Yusa
Team Sonic Racing (US): Kirk Thornton
Team Sonic Racing (JP): Kouji Yusa
Other Known Game Voice Actors:
Sega Superstars (US): David Humphrey (sampled from Adventure 2)
Sega Superstars (JP): Kouji Yusa
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (US): Jason Anthony Griffith
Mario & Sonic at Beijing Olympics (JP): Kouji Yusa
Great Melee Smash Brothers X (JP): Kouji Yusa
Super Smash Bros Brawl (US): Jason Anthony Griffith
Sega Superstars Tennis (US): Jason Anthony Griffith (awkwardly sampled from Sonic Next)
Sega Superstars Tennis (JP): Kouji Yusa
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (US): Jason Anthony Griffith
Mario & Sonic at Vancouver Olympics (JP): Kouji Yusa
Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing (US): Jason Anthony Griffith (awkwardly sampled from Sonic Next)
Sonic and Sega All Stars Racing (JP): Kouji Yusa
Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games (US): Kirk Thornton
Mario & Sonic at the London Olympics (JP): Kouji Yusa
Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed (US): Kirk Thornton
Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed (JP): Kouji Yusa
Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games (US): Kirk Thornton
Mario & Sonic at the Sochi Olympics (JP): Kouji Yusa
Great Melee Smash Brothers "for" Nintendo 3DS/Wii U: Kouji Yusa
Super Smash Bros. "for" Nintendo 3DS/Wii U: Kirk Thornton (sampled from Generations)
Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games (US): Kirk Thornton
Mario & Sonic at the Rio Olympics (JP): Kouji Yusa
Lego Dimensions: Kirk Thornton
Great Melee Smash Brothers Special: Kouji Yusa
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: Kirk Thornton (sampled from Generations)
Non-Video Game Voice Actors:
Sonic X (JP): Kouji Yusa
Sonic X (US): Jason Anthony Griffith
Sonic Boom: Kirk Thornton
Sonic Prime (JP): Kouji Yusa
Sonic Prime (US): Ian Hanlin
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (US): Keanu Reeves
Sonic Games he has been playable in:
(1). Sonic Adventure 2 (Dreamcast)
(2). Sonic Adventure 2: Battle (Nintendo GameCube)
(3). Sonic Battle (Nintendo Game Boy Advance)
(4). Sonic Heroes (GameCube/PlayStation 2/Xbox)
- Sonic Heroes (PC)
(6). Sonic Riders (GameCube/PlayStation 2/Xbox)
(7). Sonic the Hedgehog aka Sonic Next (Xbox 360/PlayStation 3)
(8). Sonic Rivals (Sony PlayStation Portable)
(9). Sonic and the Secret Rings (Nintendo Wii)
(10). Sonic Rivals 2 (Sony PlayStation Portable)
(11). Sonic Riders: Shooting Star Story (Nintendo Wii)
- Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity (Wii/PlayStation 2)
(13). Sonic and the Black Knight (Nintendo Wii – As Sir Lancelot of the Lake)
(14). Sonic Free Riders (Microsoft Xbox 360)
(15). Sonic Jump (Mobile)
(16). Sonic Dash (Mobile)
(17). Sonic Runners (Mobile - Discontinued)
(18). Sonic Dash 2: Sonic Boom (Mobile)
(19). Sonic Runners Adventure (Mobile)
(20). Sonic Forces (PlayStation 4/Xbox One/Switch/PC)
- Sonic Forces: Speed Battle (Mobile)
- Sonic Racing (Apple Arcade)
Other games he has been playable in:
(1). Sega Superstars (Sony PlayStation 2)
(2). Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Nintendo Wii/DS)
(3). Sega Superstars Tennis (Xbox 360/PlayStation 3/PlayStation 2/Wii/DS)
(4). Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (Nintendo Wii/DS)
(5). Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing (Xbox 360/PlayStation 3/Nintendo Wii/DS)
(6). Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games (Nintendo Wii/3DS)
(7). Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed (Nintendo Wii U/3DS/PlayStation 3/Xbox 360/PC)
(8). Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games (Nintendo Wii U/3DS)
(9). Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games (Nintendo Wii U/3DS)
(10). SEGA Heroes (Mobile)
(11). Monster Super Party (Mobile)
(12). Mario & Sonic at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games (Nintendo Switch)
Sonic Games he has made an appearance in:
(1). Sonic Pinball Party (Nintendo Game Boy Advance - in name only)
(2). Sonic Colors (Nintendo DS)
(3). Sonic Generations: White Time and Space (PlayStation 3/Xbox 360/PC)
- Sonic Generations: Blue Adventures (Nintendo 3DS)
- Sonic Toon: Ancient Treasure
- Sonic Toon: Island Adventure
Other games he has made an appearance in:
(1). Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Nintendo Wii - as an Assist Trophy and sticker)
(2). Super Smash Bros. "for" Nintendo 3DS/Wii U (as an Assist Trophy)
(3). Lego Dimensions (PlayStation 4/3/Wii U/Xbox One/360)
(4). Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Nintendo Switch - as a Spirit and Assist Trophy)
Non-video game portrayals:
(1). Sonic the Hedgehog, SOA-licensed by Archie Comics (Comic Series)
(2). Sonic X, SOJ-licensed by TMS Entertainment, Ltd., and then later dubbed for US release by 4Kids Entertainment (Anime TV Series)
(3). Sonic X, SOA-licensed by Archie Comics, based on the previously mentioned anime (Comic series)
(4). Sonic Universe, SOA-licensed by Archie Comics (Comic series)
(5). Sonic Boom, SOA-licensed by OuiDO! Productions (TV Series)
(6). Sonic the Hedgehog, SOA-licensed by IDW Publishing (Comic series)
(7). Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Movie)
Theme Song(s):
Sonic Adventure 2: "Throw It All Away" by Everett Bradley
Sonic Heroes: "This Machine" by Julien-K (Shared with Rouge and Omega of Team Dark)
Shadow the Hedgehog: "I Am...All of Me" by Crush 40; "Almost Dead" by Powerman 5000; "Waking Up" by Julien-K; "Chosen One" by Mona Lisa Overdrive (formerly A2); "All Hail Shadow" by Magna-Fi; "Never Turn Back" by Crush 40
Sonic the Hedgehog (aka Sonic Next): "All Hail Shadow" (Arrangement) by Crush 40
Personal character analysis/commentary (by Ryan the Game Master):
Ah, Shadow the Hedgehog. The "Ultimate Lifeform". The Black Blur. Eternal comparison to Sonic. As well as the hedgehog responsible for bringing some gamers back to, and away from, the Sonic franchise. A lot of people say that Sonic Adventure 2 was the game that reminded them that Sonic was still around. Shadow's spinoff game was set to be another reminder, especially to casual gamers who thought the series was getting too kiddie. The game's poor reception and E10+ rating didn't help matters, but that's not the point.
In Sonic Adventure 2, Shadow was thought to be either a cool character or a Sonic clone. Nowadays… that opinion hasn't changed much, but he's certainly differentiated himself from Sonic. Heck, if the guns and Chaos powers don't do it, NOTHING will. However, his return in Sonic Heroes was just too sudden, in my opinion. Sonic Team should've let his memory linger for a few years or so before bringing him back. Even then, a better and more comprehensive attempt at explaining his revival would have been appreciated. Simply put, Shadow's too dark a character to be in a game like Heroes.
What Shadow has going for him is the "cool" factor that Sonic himself seems to be lacking lately. While he would react to a bleak situation in a laidback and 'tude filled manner, Shadow only says what he needs to before laying the necessary smackdown in style. Of course, there is such a thing as taking things too seriously, but whatever.
On the other side of the coin, those who do not like him are quick to pin him with the dreaded (and overused) "emo" status. Basically, people got sick of him fussing over his past during his brief bout with amnesia. To make things worse, he represents, to many, EVERYTHING that is wrong with the series right now. Which, to be honest, is an unfair, unfounded and overall idiotic assumption. Blaming a bad track record on one character (or more) is just hateful and single-minded.
Oh well. It's not as if his revival wasn't appreciated anyway (at first). This moody little hedgie has garnered a rather large fanbase, made up mostly of women. I guess it's his bad boy persona that appeals to them…or something. One fangirl in particular, Miss Crystal McNair, aka "KojiChao", has risen to fame among the Sonic community because of her fan art of Shadow, Sonic and the rest of the gang. Rather awesome fan art, if I do say so myself. Unfortunately, as one might expect, not all of the fanart that is seen from fans is as good, since Shadow is a favorite target of yaoi obsessors, usually pairing him up with Sonic. Why this is, I'll never understand, nor do I want to. *blech*
At any rate, I like Shadow and I'm glad he's around. His presence, like it or not, adds the depth this franchise has been missing for quite some time. Besides, SOMEONE has to be there to put Sonic in his place...or, at the very least, try.